Heat in the office: What you can do about it

Working in the office in hot weather is a strain on the body. With these tips, you can learn how to make your everyday work more pleasant in high temperatures.

When the heat in the office gets out of control, the desire for air conditioning becomes great. However, air conditioning units are not good for the environment due to the resource and energy consumption. In addition, many people do not tolerate air conditioning very well and complain of sore or dry eyes, headaches or neck pain caused by the cold draft.

With these seven tips, you can reduce the heat in the office – or help prevent it from occurring in the first place.

1. Escape the heat in the office early in the morning

Start work as early as possible. Use flexitime or ask your employer if you can start work earlier. This has many advantages:

• On the way to work the air is usually still cool and you arrive at the office refreshed.
• The cold morning air cools the office efficiently if you ventilate early in the morning.
• You leave the office when the afternoon heat is particularly oppressive.

Tips for proper ventilation in hot office environments:

• In the morning, open all windows as wide as possible.
• Ensure there is a draft by opening opposite windows.
• To prevent windows and doors from slamming shut due to the draft, secure wide-open windows and doors with a wedge, for example.

• Close all windows as soon as it gets warmer outside than in the office. You can easily check this with a room thermometer.

• Keep the windows closed during the day to keep the heat out.
• Open the windows every one to two hours for about five minutes to let fresh oxygen into the room.
• If possible, open the windows a crack before you go home. The night air will cool the office while you are away.

2. Reduce heat in the office by darkening

It’s not just the temperature outside that makes the office hot, direct sunlight also has a big impact. So don’t let the sun into the office. As soon as you’ve closed the windows after airing the room, darken the office with blinds, shutters or awnings.

• The heat in the office rises quickly due to direct sunlight.
• A darkened room appears cooler than a bright, sunlit room.
• If you darken the windows, it also makes working on the computer easier: sunlight cannot reflect on the screen or affect your vision overall, for example. You also reduce energy consumption because you do not have to set the screen brightness to the highest level.

The workplace regulations in Germany and Austria, for example, stipulate that direct exposure of employees to sunlight must be avoided.

3. Plants improve the indoor climate

Houseplants in the office not only look beautiful, but also contribute significantly to well-being in hot office conditions.

• Plants increase the oxygen content of the air through photosynthesis. At the same time, the proportion of carbon dioxide (CO2) decreases. This means that you find the indoor climate pleasant even without regular ventilation.
• At the same time, the plant releases moisture into the air through its leaves. This creates evaporative cooling and the plant acts like a natural air conditioning system.

Some plants are particularly good against the heat in the office:

• Spider plant (Read more: Caring for spider plants)
• Pothos (Read more: Pothos care and propagation)
• Bow hemp

• Weeping fig

• Rubber tree (Read more: Cutting rubber trees)

Just like people, plants protect themselves from heat through evaporation. Green plants release up to 90 percent of the water they use to water them back into the environment. The resulting evaporative cooling not only cools them, but also the room.

If your employer does not allow potted plants with soil in the workplace, grow spider plants and ivy in a vase. Change the water regularly so that the roots do not start to rot.

Find out how to care for your office plants here: Office plants: These plants are best suited.

4. Drink plenty of water when it’s hot in the office

If it’s very hot in the office, make sure you drink enough fluids. On a hot day, you should drink two to three liters to support your body and avoid circulatory problems in the heat.

Put a large jug of water at your desk in the morning. This will automatically make you reach for it again and again. The jug should be empty by lunchtime. Fill it up again in the afternoon. This will ensure that you drink plenty of fluids until the end of the day.

The best drink to drink when it’s hot in the office is tap water. You can change the taste by adding a few additives. Try, for example:

• Lemon slices
• squeezed lemon juice
• Herbs such as lemon balm or peppermint
• Fruit such as raspberries, blueberries or peach pieces
• Cucumber slices

Don’t throw away the fruit and vegetables – they taste great as a dessert or as a small, refreshing snack.

Avoid hot office temperatures:

• sugary lemonades
• carbonated drinks
• Coffee
• alcohol

5. Light food that cools the body

According to the teachings of TCM nutrition, there are numerous foods that are supposed to cool the body. Use this property when it’s hot in the office and include more of these foods in your diet:

• Watermelon
• sour fruit
• tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Leaf salad
• yogurt

Tip: Combine the fruits or vegetables with the (vegan) yoghurt.

Wash and chop up the fruit or vegetables at home so that you can prepare them quickly at work. Your snack will stay fresh for a long time in a glass or stainless steel container. You can find stainless steel lunch boxes in the outdoor department of sports shops or at Avocadostore. There are also boxes in which you can store the chopped vegetables separately using the dividers.

6. The right clothing for hot office work

The clothes you wear have a decisive influence on how you feel about the heat in the office. Choose light, flowing clothes that hug your body and don’t constrict it.

If you dress loosely and airily, you will find the high temperatures less unpleasant. This creates an air cushion between your body and the clothing, which acts like an insulating layer.

When choosing your clothes, pay attention to the material. Shirts and blouses made of light linen or cotton fabric are cooler than T-shirts made of cotton jersey or viscose. Avoid clothing made of synthetic fibers: Microplastic fibers come off of these in the washing machine – you also sweat more easily under them and the synthetic fibers smell unpleasant more quickly. Read more: Heavy sweating: The best home remedies for sweat.

7. Immediate help: When the heat in the office becomes too much

These tips will help if the heat in the office becomes unbearable in the afternoon:

• Tie long hair back with a hair tie or clip to allow air to reach your neck and forehead.
• Bring a second top to work and change if you sweat a lot or want to wear something lighter.
• Refresh yourself with a washcloth before putting on the new garment.
• Take a short break and fan yourself with a fan.
• Create artificial sweat by spraying water onto your skin or directly onto your face using a perfume atomizer or spray bottle.

By the way: You can of course also use our tips to cool down your apartment if you work from home. You also have a little more freedom here than in the office and can, for example, take a cold foot bath to cool down when it’s hot. Also, turn off unused technical devices as they can heat up the room even more. If your apartment is cooler than the office, there is no official right to work from home. However, you can make arrangements with your employer to escape the heat in the office.

Tip: Doctor and presenter Eckart von Hirschhausen offers even more advice on how to deal with heat in the following video. Here you will also learn why heat is a serious risk to your health:

Read more on Techzle\.com:

• 7 mistakes you should avoid in hot weather
• What to do in hot weather? 10 sustainable tips
• Cooling your apartment without air conditioning: The best tips & tricks
• Heat pimples: These home remedies help against heat rash

Edited by Laura Hintereder

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